Burrow's Debut

[CJD]

I was not impressed with the statistics of the day. But watching him play, I was impressed.

There were obviously miscues. The first sack he took, he was trying to do some Burrow magic and it didn't work, resulting in a massive loss. And then the interception was dumb and needless. Rookies often make mistakes like this because you can get away with so much more in college. You also saw it a few times on the 2nd or 3rd drive, where he kind of floated a ball to the running back and then when he passed backwards to Mixon, resulting in a possible turn over if Mixon didn't recover it.

Then there was a pass to the end zone that he simply overthrew Green. It was, as Trent Green called it, a gimme (or something similar. I don't recall exactly what he said). That play was really saddening.

But the windows that he was fitting the ball into? Whew! Half of his completions, Dalton couldn't dream of completing. The zip on his passes is elite. And the placement is incredible. For example, that pass to AJ Green in the end zone that would have been a touchdown had Green not pushed off (a ticky tacky call, but I understand they don't want the game winner to be a push off). That play looked basically identical to this pass to Moss, his TE in college. The placement was, literally, perfect. Where only Green could get it. He had another play off of a scramble that Green went up and got that was really well placed, except Green couldn't quite make it in bounds.

Then you have the plays that were missed because of his receivers. Ross dropped 2 passes, 1 of which was a touchdown that hit his fingers. CJ also had a pass coming his way that likely would have been a touchdown had he not fallen down.

His final drive was fantastic. If we had more time outs or if the time hadn't basically all been run down by the Chargers, I guarantee we score and win the game that drive. Joe was in Heisman mode on that drive.

I lay most of the blame on the offensive line. The two turnovers were brutal, but ultimately they were surmountable. The defense played fantastic and I hope they continue this as the season goes on. I have a few reservations, because the Chargers have one of the worst starting QBs in the NFL right now. So maybe the defense was a mirage. But, for now, I'm going to remain optimistic. They played fantastic today.

You could tell Joe settled in as the game went on and this was against one of the very best defenses in the NFL. That pass rush is terrifying. Bobby Hart was absolutely destroyed all game. Hopefully, we let Fred have his chance next week and Joe gets a little more time. But he'll only improve as he gains more experience. We have to remember that this was only his first game in the NFL. And he had no pre season and a really weird off season and training camp due to COVID.

I give his game a B-. There were a lot of bad plays, mostly typical rookie mistakes. But there were a lot of really good plays too. And I have no doubt the latter will increase and the former will decrease as time goes on.

[TheBengalsMind]

I thought he played real good, everybody always hates on pre-season, but if even Brady can look off his game like he did today, then so can a rookie QB.

I was impressed with his calmness under pressure, there were times that the pressure would of got to Andy Dalton I think.

You could tell that his mistakes upset him, but he didn't let them effect him into air mailing passes like Andy did in that Jacksonville games last year and at other times.

His mobility in the pocket showed.

He's got to get crisper with his timing, which I think would have been better if we had preseason. He did something that looked like an old Kitna shuffle pass that was ill advised to make.

Especially when he could of just took off running and been fine, he wanted to be able to do more though and it cost him.

He's got that Brett Favre mentality, Brett Favre's reckless abandonment won him a lot of games, but it cost him a few too.

I think we'll get better and sharper as the season goes. But I can already tell Joe Burrow is going to be a unflinching leader when we do hit our stride.

[Hammerstripes]

For those that weren't impressed, just keep one thing in mind - this was the first game action of any kind for him. No preseason and a shortened offseason.

Was he as good as I thought he would be? No, but he's got "it"

I was hoping to see more "shots" with the deep ball. I was also thinking we'd at least see Tee Higgins and Auden Tate as matchup issues.

[*rfaulk34*]

They showed the graphic at the beginning of the game. Since 2003, 1OA QBs were 0-11-1 in their first start. Later in the game, i think they showed a graphic that only 3 have done it, the most recent was Carr in 2002. 

[Nicomo Cosca]

Mixed bag. He obviously missed some throws and the pick was a bad decision, but that running TD where he waited for his block was a veteran move, and the final drive of the game he looked like he had ice in his veins. If we had our timeouts we probably win the game. I thought there was more positive than negative. Especially when you consider he had no preseason, barely any time with AJ and Ross, etc.

[Essex Johnson]

(09-13-2020, 08:45 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: He looked like 2011 dalton out there. Mainly due to the o-line

I think you mean Dalton 2019, 2011 he help lead us to playoffs

[Nicomo Cosca]

(09-13-2020, 11:56 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: I think you mean Dalton 2019, 2011 he help lead us to playoffs

Why are you comparing an entire season of Dalton vs one game of Burrow? Dalton’s first game in the NFL he threw for a grand total of 81 yds and 1 TD against the Cleveland Browns.

Burrow threw for over twice that, and had a rushing TD. At least try to be objective.

[OUatown]

Boomer said he’s a super bowl winning qb..... Unfortunately this organization didn’t do him any favors with the ACC level oline...sadly his super bowl win won’t be in cincy. Kid is from Athens so I will be rooting for him

[Millhouse]

From winning the National Title 9 months ago to making his NFL debut, in 2020, I am stoked we have him.

There are other parts I am not stoked about, and I hope either they drastically improve this season or are out of here asasp. Can't waste time with those that should have never been signed on or brought in, coaches and players.

[J24]

His final two drives impressed me (outside of the INT).
Thought he showed great Athleticism and he completed a good amount of passes for a player in his first start.
He missed two throws ( Ross and Green) either one would have have improved his stat total and his INT was ridiculously bad even for a rookie QB.
However leading the team down the field at the end of the game with Zero timeouts left and what should have been a TD elevates his performance.
I'll give it a solid B.

[Bengal Dude]

I will say that the game today is what I was expecting most of the games to look like today. This is what the first preseason game would've looked like. The interception was a rookie mistake that's to be expected. Burrow was willing to take some chances today that we didn't see from Andy over the last few seasons. Some of the issues were from the OL playing like garbage and not helping him.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Burrow can do for the rest of the season.

[KillerGoose]

(09-13-2020, 11:54 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Mixed bag. He obviously missed some throws and the pick was a bad decision, but that running TD where he waited for his block was a veteran move, and the final drive of the game he looked like he had ice in his veins. If we had our timeouts we probably win the game. I thought there was more positive than negative. Especially when you consider he had no preseason, barely any time with AJ and Ross, etc.

Agreed. I was ecstatic with his performance on the final drive. Not only that, but the quality of some of the throws he was making was impressive (the throw over the middle to Ross, for example. A laser right over the top of a linebacker.) Even still, the would-be touchdown to Green was a great toss. I saw enough to be optimistic about, even though the performance overall might have disappointed me.

[Bengalfan4life27c]

Burrow was definitely nervous. I don't care what he said pre game. He's better than Dalton as a rookie. Might be better than Luck was if he can get over those nerves.

[Murdock2420]

What I saw was exactly what I expected. A rookie QB with zero NFL snaps due to no preseason playing behind a bad O-line. He looked confused and over-matched early but as the game went on he started to show more comfort as he settled in. The last drive, was extremely promising and fun to watch, he looked very poised.

I never understood the people saying we'd win 8 or 9 games this year. Rookie QB will make rookie mistakes, like missing Green and the pick, and it really doesn't help to have that O-line up front.

He'll grow and learn, or the O-line will get him killed. Have to hope he learns and that next season is the year you look to break out.

[Joelist]

He looked like a rook out there....amazing since he is a rook.

That said his poise was good and he had some decent throws. And Ross needed to catch the TD.

As to the bad side, not only was the OL struggling but the scheme was terrible. No real attempts to leverage Burrow's mobility or roll him out or do ANYTHING to give plays more time to develop. They had exactly one designed play to exploit the aggressive pass rush and it resulted in a TD - so of course there were no attempts to do so again.

[SunsetBengal]

Rookie mistakes aside, I like what I see in him. He's a winner.

When the game was on the line, he put the team on his back, took them all the way down inside the 5. He put the ball in perfect position for the winning score. He can't control the hand fighting that goes on between WRs and DBs, just the same as he can't control which way an official views a play.

There were mistakes a plenty by many players on offense. (Mixon uncharacteristic fumble, Ross not catching catchable balls, OL missing blocks left and right, etc.)

For a rookie, day 1 starter with no OTAs, a truncated training camp with no preseason games, I thought he looked like a true, franchise QB in the making.

[Rubekahn29]

To me, I thought he looked significantly better as the game went on. He's going to have to play a lot better Thursday if we want to have a chance. I do not think we hold Cleveland to 16. No one around Burrow really helped him out much. Hopefully we timing, and reps we continue to see him increase. I saw a kid who is a winner, but still has a long way to go.

On a positive note, he has been criticized heavily for his arm strength. That did not seem to be much of an issue. Heck he overthrew two bombs (which I think will improve with reps-at least with AJ)

[Au165]

The difference between the 1st half to the second hald, speifically in average distance of the catch (it doubled) showed what he can do with time. I think all things considered he weathered one of the better pass rushes in the NFL well and once he got a little better blocking in the 2nd half he showed a lot of poise. I was impressed with the way he moved the ball in the hurry up situation knowing he had no timeouts, especially at the end of it. Under 1 minute and throwing 6 and 8 yard routes in bounds he never panicked he got them lined up and didn't spike until he was supposed to.

His comfort with the recievers will improve as the year goes on, but overall I think we saw a lot of the things that he showed at LSU. His pocket work was good, but I think he started to learn a bit what he could and couldn't do in terms of running from NFL defensive linemen. The capper to it all was him passing on blaming the OPI at the end and instead pulling the focus back on his misses. People have said that when Baker Mayfield is confident people hate him, but when Burrow does it we love it. The difference is that post game right there, Baker is known for blaming the cirumstances while Joe took it on himself even when there was plenty of fair things to put it on at the end.

[TJHoushmandzadeh's Shiny Shoes]

The criticism under Marvin was always our inability to make adjustments.

He went from a 3 and out on his opening drive to leading what - but for a OPI call - would have been a game winning touchdown on the final drive.

That's the type of progress we want to see. This season, one with a rookie qb and no pre-season, is more about the improvements he makes than the end result.

[reuben.ahmed]

(09-13-2020, 11:46 PM)Hammerstripes Wrote: For those that weren't impressed, just keep one thing in mind - this was the first game action of any kind for him.  No preseason and a shortened offseason.

Was he as good as I thought he would be?  No, but he's got "it"

I was hoping to see more "shots" with the deep ball.  I was also thinking we'd at least see Tee Higgins and Auden Tate as matchup issues.

Hard to get bawl downfield with 1 second to throw. Andy led league in time to get bawl out of hands next to brady, one was probably by design and the other because they were forced.